Imaging in epilepsy
Description
How technology supports medical diagnosis.
Patients with epilepsy who do not respond adequately to medication can become seizure-free through brain surgery, which removes the source of the epilepsy. The aim of this surgery is to remove the epileptically active area without affecting important functions. A complicating factor here is that the epileptically active area may be extensive with connections to brain regions that are distant from the source. The challenge is to map this epileptically abnormal network in the brain as well as possible prior to surgery, so that planning of the entire procedure becomes possible without last-minute adjustments.
An important tool for this are imaging techniques, such as functional MRI (fMRI), the combination of EEG and fMRI and DTI. Functional MRI is a technique that records changes in oxygen consumption of the brain. By correlating the simultaneously measured epileptiform activity in EEG with the functional MR images, a direct relationship is established with the epileptically active areas in the patient's brain. The result of simultaneous recording of EEG and fMRI shown in the attached figure is a good example of a successful determination of a functional epileptic network. Combination with diffusion-weighted MRI and tractography (DTI) potentially gives a structural basis to this functional network
Speaker(s)
Dr Pauly Ossenblok, medical physicist at the Epilepsy Centre Kempenhaeghe
Location
Hall centre Prinsenhof, Hoofdstraat 43,
5683 AC, Best
Organiser
Region South
Name and contact details for information
ing. Koos Mulder, t: (040) 276 21 82 / 06 113 80 464 or via the e-mail address below.